Tab sensing means in address printing machines



Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12. 1947 is Sheets-Sheet 2 m1] wmm 7 /2// 109876 4521 Q 24 23 22 2/ 2o 19 as I? /s 15 l4 I3 DISTRICT flLL.

cus TOMEQ 012000 4 LL ARTICLE eeoup BUTTER AND/G? Mmahemz Ana/o2 CHEESE Inventor Car/ ifijernfyc y Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 -[72 Van for Car/IQ fiernfi g 49 www 5 1952 c. R. BERNHAG TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet 4 'lnv z r v for Carl Rfiern/za flfforoega Dec. 30, 1952 Q R BERNHAG 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 fr? 7/67? for D 1952 c. R. BERNHAG 2,523,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet e 75? as l2/// 98765432/ 9o v. w? L DISTRICT flLL 1 CUSTOMER GROUP ELL 2 flET/CLE GROUP 507m? M96: Momma/n vittornegs Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 15 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed March 12, 1947 m I Q: g m5 O N: m I I I\ mi W I h oi mg mg N\\ 174,, mm: mm NN MN MW R ma m W A t n n r a e 2 Q: 93 m m 1 Q \Q w n C 0% a QQ NQ m vm o\ H ,O Q 0 NM. 9% vm mm I- mw m mm mw Dec. 30, 1952 c E N A 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet 8 Inventor C01'/ B 521?? 9 Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES l5 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed March 12, 1947 ME NQ NQ /K v5 Q fflveflfor Car] 18. Jerri/2 1 Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG 2,523,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1947 15 Sheets-Sheet l0 Dec. 30, 1952 C. R. BERNHAG TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES l5 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed March 12, 1947 Inventor Car/ Rfiernbg a [0M M flitorneys Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 15 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed March 12. 1947 c R BERNHAG 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES l5 Sheets-Sheet 13 Inventor Far/@fiernfzgg Q? 414 MM -4zi-oz'fzegs Dec. 30, 1952 Filed March 12, 1947 Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG 2,623,453

TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 12, 1 947 15 Sheets-Sheet 14 Oz I 2 VIIIIIIIIIIIA viflvACj an I v mswwm 6mm bo'fluz.

v v T N Lu; Ego coovmomue. 51015-5 m cum 72 17:12am for Car/1E. Earn/2g Dec. 30, 1952 c. R. BERNHAG TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed March 12, 1947 4 Inventor Caf/ R Jerry/9g fljv eg u Patented Dec. 30, 1952 TAB SENSING MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Carl Richard Bernhag, Goteborg, Sweden, assignor to Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a. corporation of Delaware Application March 12, 1947, Serial No. 734,132 In Sweden March 19, 1946 16 Claims. (Cl. fill-56) 1 This invention relates to printing machines of a kind through which individual printing devices are passed one by one to a printing position in the machine, and particularly the invention relates to selector mechanism for such printing machines.

In printing machines of the character to which the present invention relates, the individual printing devices that are advanced one by one into the printing position in themachine usually bear identifying means at one or more of a plurality of identifying, positions that are provided on each such printing device, and such identifying means have in the past been sensed to control a selector mechanism which in turn has governed one or more of the operative mechanisms of the machine. The most common use to which such selector mechanism has been applied has been the control of the printing operation of the machine, and in such use the selector mechanism is effective to suppress or enable the operation of the impression means of the machine in response to the sensed presence or absence of identifying means at selected and determined positions on the printing devices. The sensed indication that is attained with respect to each printing device becomes effective either in a succeeding cycle of machine operation, or through the intermediary of storage or delay means, becomes effective in some subsequent cycle of machine operation, and in the past the sensing operation has been performed at a suitable sensing station in the machine by moving the sensing means into sensing contact with a printing device resting in such station. While this arrangement has been found for many years to be quite satisfactory in most instances, situations are found where resort may not advantageously be had to this relationship. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to enable sensing of the iden ti fying means on printing devices to be performed by moving the printing devices toward and into operative sensing contact wih the elements of the sensing mechanism, and a related object is to aforesaid character may control operation of'one Through such an arrangeor more operative devices in such machines in a predetermined manner under control of the presence or absence of identifying means on the printing devices at selected of predetermined positions on such devices, such mechanisms include a variable portion that may be set up in a selected or predetermined manner. When the variable portion of a selector mechanism is set up through the intermediary of a removable element, proformed to set up the mechanism in a predetermined manner, such element is usually referred to as being matrix and a selector mechanism so arranged is usually referred to as being a matrix selector.

A further object of the present invention is to afford a matrix selector wherein the matrix is disposed in a conveniently located position, and a related object is to enable the matrix in such a selector to be afforded by the use of printing devices of substantially the same character as the printing devices that are to be sensed by the selector mechanism.

Heretofore identifying means have been afafforded on printing devices of the aforesaid nature by providing sockets at predetermined possitions along a mar-gin of each such device and tabs have been removably secured in selected of such sockets in such a manner as to project beyond the aforesaid marginal edge of the device to thereby afford the identifying means thereon. Resort has also been had to notches formed at selected of predetermined positions along a marginal edge of each printing device and in other instances resort has been made to perforations formed at selected of predetermined positions on each printing device to thereby afford identifying means thereon. The sensing mechanisms of such selector mechanism are arranged to cooperate either with tabs, notches or perforations depending upon which type of identifying means are to be passed through the machine of which the selector mechanism is a part. Furthermore, the selector mechanism has been arranged so as to cause the operativemechanism or mechanisms under control thereof to operate in one sense or manner in response to the presence of identifying means at predetermined positions on the devices or to operate in such sense or manner in response to the absence of identifying means at such predetermined positions. Since tab are the most commonly employed form of identifying means and since the printing or impression mechanism of the machines is the operative mechanism usually controlled by a selector mechanism it has been customary to refer to a selector as being arranged for print-tab operation when the selector is to cause the operative mechanism to function in response to the presence of tabs at predetermined positions, and to refer to the selector mechanism as being arranged for skip-tab operation when the selector mechanism is to cause the operative mechanism to function in response to the absence of tabs at predetermined positions.

A further and important object of the invention is to afford a matrix selector in which a plurality of matrices may be utilized so that one such matrix will control the machine in one sense while another matrix will control the mechanism in a reverse or opposite sense. Through such an arrangement, I have enabled one matrix to operate according to the print-tab system of control while another matrix operates according to the skip-tab system of control, and thus the usefulness of the selector mechanism has been materially increased.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the followin description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art Without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a printing machine of the nature in which my invention may be embodied;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a printing device of the kind employed in the machine in which this invention is embodied;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of a control tievice or matrix of the nature employed in this invention;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the machine as illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view toward the printing device guideway and taken substantially along the line 66 in Fig. 5;

Figs. '7, 8 and 9'are fragmentary side views of a clutch included in the machine in which this invention is embodied showing the operative parts of this clutch in different operative positions;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary end View of the clutch illustrated in Figs. '7, 8 and 9;

Fig. 11 is a sectional View of the clutch shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 and taken substantially on the line I l-.i I in Fig. '7;

Fig. 12 is a plan view in which certain parts are broken away of the rear end of the guideway through which the printing devices are forwarded in the course of passage thereof through the ma chine;

Fig. 13 is a perspective detail view of a portion of the selector mechanism and the operating means therefor embodied in the apparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view looking in at the rear end of a portion of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 13;

Figs. 15, 16 and 17 are fragmentary perspective detail views of the detecting members and re,-

lated apparatus of the selector mechanism in this invention and wherein the functioning parts are shown in different operative positions;

Figs. 18, 19, 20 and 21 are fragmentary per spective views of a portion of the control mechanism of this invention wherein the operative parts of this mechanism are shown in different operative positions;

Fig. 22 is a fragmentary perspective view of the restoring mechanism and the drive therefor for the detecting members of the selector mechanism;

Fig. 23 is a bottom plan view of a portion of a reversing mechanism embodied in the selector mechanism;

Fig. 24 is a sectional detail view taken substantially on the line 24-44 in Fig. 23;

Fig. 25 is a perspective view of a modified form of the control device employed in the selector mechanism; and

Figs. 26, 2'7 and 28 are fragmentary perspective detail views similar to Figs. 15, 16 and 17 by showing the detecting members of the selector mechanism in different alternate positions when a control device of the kind shown in Fig. 25 is employed.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated my invention as embodied in'a printing machine of the character shown in Hueber Patent No. 2,070,549, patented February 3, 1937, to which patent reference may be made for details of construction of the machine.

As described in the aforesaid Hueber patent, individual printin devices are advanced one by one and in a step by step manner in a forward directon from the bottom of a supply magazine that is located near the back of the machine, and at a printing station disposed forwardly of the magazine, impressions may be made from the respective printing devices by the platen mechanism of the machine. The printin devices utilized in such machines are adapted to bear identifying devices such as tabs at one or more of a plurality of identifying positions afforded along what may be termed the rear edges of such print ing devices, and for automatically controlling the print-skip operation of the machine, the present invention provides selector means wherein detecting elements are set or rendered effective by movement of the printing devices downwardly into operative setting engagement with such detecting elements. This advantageous characteristic of the present mechanism enables thesens: ing operations to be performed while the printing devices are in position in the supply magazine, and in addition enables replaceable governing matrices for such selecting'means to be dis: posed in a conveniently accessible position at the back of the machine.

The machine as herein illustrated includes a frame I preferably in the form of a casting em: bodying a relatively flat portion affording a'table top and from which depend side and front and rear walls, shelves as 3 being attached to the side walls in a manner shown in Fig. 'l, and desirably the frame I is supported on a stand as 2. A pair of laterally spaced arms 4 extend upwardly from the rear end of the frame I as it is viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 to support a platen rneche anism that is desirably of the character shown in Hueber Patent No. 2,104,863, patented January 11, 1938.

As best shown in Fig. 2 a supply magazine 5 composed of vertically extended side frame members 6 is disposed near the rear edge of the machine between the arms 4 adjacent the connection thereof to the frame I. Printing devices as 3|, Fig. 3, stacked one upon the other are introduced into the magazine 5 from the top thereof so as'to be stacked in the magazine 5 in such a way that the lowermost printing device in the magazine may be Withdrawn therefrom to be fed forwardly through a guideway for such printing devices afforded in the printing machine to thereby be advanced to printing position in the machine above a suitable anvil (not shown) located below the opening 8 in the frame I to thereby be disposed in printing position in the machine. An impression is made from the printing device at 3| supported on the aforesaid anvil in alignment with the opening 8 by a platen roller 1 as described in detail in the above referred to Hueber Patent No. 2,104,863.

The machine is driven by an electric motor ll, Fig. 5, carried by the frame I beneath the table top of the frame I, an endless belt Iii being passed about a pulley fast on the shaft of the motor II and another pulley fast on a shaft I3 journalled in suitable bearings carried by the frame I. The main drive shaft I9 of the machine is journalled in suitable bearings carried by the frame I and is disposed in endwise alignment with the shaft I3 and is connected thereto by means including a friction slip clutch It. The slip clutch I is of such a nature that if any part of the mechanism driven from the main drive shaft IS should be held against operation in the intended manner, the clutch I will permit the shaft I3 to rotate without rotating the main drive shaft I9 so as to thereby prevent injury to operative mechanisms in the machine.

The main drive shaft I9 is connected to the driven element of the friction slip clutch 14 through a master clutch I5, which is desirably of the one-revolution type and which is engaged when the operative parts of the machine are to be caused to function. Moreover, in order that either the means for advancing the printing device through the machine or means for operating the platen may be operated independently of each other, two additional one-revolution clutches, respectively designated 20 and 2i, are provided on the main drive shaft I9 and these clutches are arranged so that one or the other of these clutches, or both, may be engaged concurrently with the engagement of the main clutch I5. In the present instance, engagement of the clutches I5, 20 and 2| is effected under control of three control keys I6, If and I8 which project forwardly through the main frame of the machine as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The particular manner in which these keys are operated to bring about functioning of the operative parts of the machine will be described in detail hereinafter.

The magazine 5 into which the printing devices are introduced when these are to be fed into the machine is disposed at the rear end of a printing device guideway that is located between the plates la, Fig. 5, provided in the main frame I substantially midway between the side walls of the frame and in spaced-apart relation one with the other. The lowermost printing device in the magazine 5 is withdrawn therefrom by carrier bars as 28, Fig. 6, that are mounted on the inner faces of the plates Ia and N which are supported and guided for reciprocation over these faces by flanged rollers as 29 mountedon studs 30 fast in the side plates as Id. -A recprocatory movement is imparted in the carrier bars as 2.8 from. the main-drive. shaft as I9 through the feed clutch 2I when the same is engaged, this being effected in a normal oper ation of the machine by depressing the control key it. The clutch 2i has the driven element thereof connected to an eccentric 22 that is rotatably mounted on the main drive shaft i9, and a circular band 23 surrounding this eccentric 22 has a connecting rod 2t extended therefrom and pivotally connected to a rocker 25 pivotally mounted on a shaft 26 carried by the plates Ia. A link al has one end thereof pivotally connected to the free end of the rocker 25 and the other end of this link is pivotally connected to the carrier bars as 28 as shown in Fig. 6. In the initial or at rest position of the carrier bars 28 the shoulders as 34 thereon are disposed behind the iefthand edge of the lowermost printing device as 3| in the magazine 5 (the shoulder 34 being shown in an intermediate position in the operation. thereof in 6 and when the clutch 25 is initially engaged the rocker 25 is caused to pivot clockwise as viewed in Fig. 6 and there upon the shoulders as 34 on the carrier bars as 23 move forwardly and engage the rear edge of the lowermost printing device in the magazine 5 which at that time is resting upon guides as 32 formed on the plates la in alignment with the magazine 5. As the carrier bars as 28 move forwardly from the aforesaid at rest position thereof toward and beyond the position thereof shown in Fig. the edges 28a thereof disposed rearwardly of the shoulders as 34 thereof move forwardly beneath the next lowermost printing device remaining in the magazine and prevent the same from passing down onto the guides as 32 until such time as the carrier bars 28 are returned to their rear or at rest positions. Forwardly of the shoulders as 34 the upper edges of the carrier bars as 28 are recessed as indicated at 35 and sets of pawls as St are pivotally mounted in these recessed portions 35 by having rounded portions as 37 thereon disposed in complernentally shaped recesses formed in the carrier bar-s, said pawls being urged upwardly toward their effective. positions by springs as 38.

At the time the rocker 25 ttains the end of its movement in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6, what has been the lowermost printing device in the magazine 5 will have been advanced from the magazine 5 to a position intermediate the magazine 5 and the aforesaid printing station in the machine in alignment with the opening 8 and the magazine. Immediately after the rocker 25 attains the end of its movement in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6, the rocker 25 starts movement in a counterclockwise direction and in the course of this movement the shoulder 34 passes back beneath the lowermost printing device in the magazine, and at this time the first set of pawls as 36 immediately forward of the shoulder 34 pass beneath the printing device that has been moved into the aforesaid intermediate position, in which position in the guidewaythe printing device is frictionally retained; In the course of the next operation of the carrier bars 2% and upon movement of the rocker 25 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, the aforesaid first set of pawls engage the printing device in the aforesaid intermediate position and carry this printing device forward to printing position in alignment with the opening 8. During this operation of the carrier bars 28, the lowermost printing device now in the magazine is advanced into the aforesaid intermediate position. In the operation of the carrier bars subsequent to that last referred to, the second set of pawlsas tfi 7 that are forwardly of the aforesaid first set of pawls as 36 engage the printing device that has been in printing position and move this printing device from this position, while the aforesaid first set of pawls as 36 move the printing device that has been in the aforesaid intermediate position into printing position, and at this same time the shoulders as 34 advance yet another printing device from the magazine into the aforesaid intermediate position. The printing device that-is advanced from printing position in the last described operation of the carrier bars comes to rest in a position forwardly of printing position from which it is discharged into a. printing devicereceiving hopper 9, Figs. 2 and 5, provided at the forward end of the guideway through which the printing devices are advanced, such printing devices being discharged into this hopper by a set of pawls as 36 (not shown in Fig. 6).

The printing devices discharged into the receiving hopper 9 are supported by the support arms as I0, Fig. 5, as described in aforesaid Patent No. 2,070,549,:are resiliently supported into position so as to move downwardly as printing devices pass into the receiving hopper 9. When the several printing devices have been collected in the receiving hopper 9 they may be manually removed therefrom in the manner well understood in the art.

The platen mechanism which is reciprocated between the arms 4 includes a platen roller that is caused to move downwardly toward and upwardly away from a printing device disposed in alignment with the opening 8, and in the course of a cycle of operation thereof and during the time the platen roller 1 is in the lower position thereof, and rolling across the printing device at printing position 8, an impression is made onto a sheet disposed between the platen roller and the printing device, an inking ribbon usually being disposed over the type characters provided on the printing device and beneath the aforesaid sheet, such inking ribbon and the means for advancing the same being described in above referred to Patent No. 2,070,549.

In the present instance the platen roller 7 is operated :in making an impression in the aforesaid manner by means including a platen clutch 20 which, as shown, for example in'Fig. 'l, includes a driving collar 20a fast to the main drive shaft I and a substantially cup-shaped driven element 20b that is rotatably mounted on the shaft-Hi. A pawl 39 is pivotallymounted on the plate portion of the cupeshaped element 2% intermediate the flange of the element 2% and the collar 20a and includes an inwardly projecting nose 4| that is adapted to seat in a notch 42 formed in the collar 20a when the clutch 25 is to be engaged, the nose 4| being urged toward the collar loll by a spring 45 extended between the end of the pawl '39 near the nose 4| and spring anchor 46 mounted on the plate portion of the element 201). A lug 43 is provided on the pawl 39 at the end thereof opposite the nose 4| and'this lug projects through an opening 44 in the flange of the cup-shaped element 201:, the spring 45 normally being effective to urge the lug 43 through this opening.

.A shaft 49, Fig. 5, is journalled inthe plates la adjacent to the main drive shaft is and a main stop lever for the platen clutch 20 is af forded in the form of a bell crank lever generally indicated by 41, Fig. 7, that is pivotally mounted on'the shaft 49 in a position to have the arm 41a 48 at the free end of the arm 41a may engage the lug 43 on the pawl 39 to disengage the clutch, and may pass into the opening 44 to hold the driven member 2% in the predetermined rotative position while the clutch is disengaged. The arts are shown in this position in Fig. F7. The latch 48 is urged into the aforesaid position under the influence of a spring 50 extended between the arm 41b of the stop lever 41 and a latch element 5| that is pivotally mounted on a rod 52 carried by the plates la. The control key I8 is connected to one arm of a bell crank lever (not shown) and the other end of this bell crank lever has one end of a rod 54 connected thereto, the opposite end of this rod being suitably connected to the arm 47b of the bell crank lever 41. This arrangement is such that when the key I8 is depressed, movement is transmitted through the rod 54 to rock the arm 41b of the bell crank 41 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 7 whereupon the latch element 48 is withdrawn from engagee ment with the lug 43, and when this occurs the pawl 39 is normally released to the ction of the spring 45 to thereupon move the nose 4| into the recess 42, and this connects the driven element 20b of the platen clutch 20 to the driving element 20a so that the element 2% of the clutch rotates with the shaft I9. In the course of such rotation the lug 43 is disposed so as to project outwardly a substantial distance through the opening 44 in the flange of the cup-shaped element 20b, nd. hence the lug 43 is in position for engagement with the latch 48 of the stop lever 41a in the event that the lever 41a is in its operative position, and when this occurs the clutch pawl 39 is rocked to the position of'Fig. '7, thereby to withdraw the nose 4| from the notch 42, and in this way rotation of the element 20b of the platen clutch 20 with the shaft I9 is inter-,- rupted at the end of a single rotation of the shaft IS.

The latch 5| that has been mentioned herein.- before is effective during a portion of the onerevolution cycle of the platen clutch 20 to hold the stop lever 41a in its retracted or ineffective position as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, and for this purpose, a shoulder 55 is formed on the left hand edge of the latch 5| as viewed in Fig. 7. When the stop lever 41a is in its effective position of Fig. '7, the left-hand edge of the latch 5| as viewed in Fig. '7 is held against a pin 53 carried on the stop lever 41a. When the stop lever We is retracted to its ineffective position, the latch 5i is first rocked in a counterclockwise directlon, Fig. '7, and the shoulder 55 then moves beneath the pin 53 as shown in Fig. 9, thereby to hold the stop lever 41a in its ineffective position until the latch 5| is released. Such releasing of the latch 5| takes place after the platen clutch 25 has progressed through substantially three quarters of its one-revolution cycle, and at'this time the projecting pivot pin 40 on the driven member of the clutch engages the left-hand edge of the latch 5| so as to rock the same for a substantial distance in a counterclockwise direction, thereby to release the pin 53 from the shoulder 55 and allow the stop lever 47a to return to its effective position, and as a result, the stop lever 41a is effective upon the lug 43 of the clutch pawl 39 to disengage the clutch at the end of the one-revolution cycle.

The main clutch l5 of the machine is disengaged at the same time and in a corresponding manner by the stop lever thereof, it being noted that the main clutch |5 has a latch 5| corre sponding to the latch 5| which is disengaged by the action of a pivot pin 51, Fig. 11, that corresponds in form and function with the pivot pin 40. The feed clutch 2| that operates the printing device advancing means is similarly constructed and controlled, and it will be noted that the latches for the platen clutch 20 and the master clutch l5 have for purposes of clarity of disclosure been omitted in Fig. 11 of the drawings.

When the driven member 201) of the platen clutch is operated through its one-revolution cycle, an eccentric 53, Fig. 5, that is fixed to the driven member 20b is correspondingly rotated, and this eccentric is connected by means including a strap 59 and a, connecting rod $0 with the platen mechanism. By means of a link system such as that illustrated in the aforesaid Hueber Patent No. 2,070,549, the connecting rod 60 is effective to operate the platen roller 1 in such a way that the roller is moved forwardly and downwardly with respect to the opening 3 in the table top so as to press a sheet or the like against an inked ribbon 6| that is disposed across the opening 8 and over a printing plate 3| disposed in printing position beneath the opening 8. The operation of the platen drive mechanism is such that the platen roller I is then moved with a rolling action in a rearward direction so as to form a printed impression from the plate 3! onto the lower face of the sheet, and at the end of such printing stroke, the platen roller is withdrawn in an upward direction as described in the aforesaid Hueber Patent No. 2,070.549.

The control key I6, Fig. 1, may be termed the skip control key in that it causes engagement of the feed clutch 2| so as to thereby cause the printing device advancing means to be operated While the platen mechanism remains at rest. similarly, the key l8 constitutes a duplicate control key in that operation of this key lone causes engagement of the platen clutch 226 so that the platen mechanism is operated while the printing device advancing means remains at rest. When the machine is to be operated in what is usually termed consecutive printing operations, the two control keys l6 and 58 must be operated simultaneously and the control key I1 is effective in the present instance as a consecutive control key. Thus as will be evident in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the consecutive key fl is disposed between the skip control key it and the duplicate control key it,

and lateral. projections are afforded on the key it which overlie the keys I6 and 18 respectively. Thus when the consecutive key H is actuated, the platen mechanism and the printing device advancing mechanism will normally be rendered operative in the machine cycle, and it might be noted in this regard that the key .1? does not have direct controlling connections with the clutches l5, 2! and 2!, but attains this control ling action through simultaneous actuation of the keys Hi and I8.

As will be evident in the aforesaid Hueber Patent No. 2,070,549, the timing of the machine is such that the carrier bars l8 move through their forward or advancing strokes during the first i half of the machine cycle, and at this same time the platen roller 1 is being moved forwardly and downwardly through a conditioning stroke. The carrier bars 2% thus move through their return strokes during the last half of the machine cycle, and it is during this period that the printing devices 3! in the printing device guideway are stationary and the platen roller I moves rearwardly through its operative printing stroke.

The printing devices that are utilized in the machine of the present invention may be of many different kinds, but as herein shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, such printing devices have a frame Elf formed from sheet metal having fastening or securing means 62 thereon whereby an embossed printing plate 63 may be removably secured on the forward face of the frame 3| and adjacent to the lower edge thereof. Securing devices 62 are also afforded on the frame 3|) whereby an index card 62 may be secured on the forward face of the frame adjacent the upper edge thereof, and the securing devices that are thus employed may be of the character illustrated in the Gollwitzer Patent No. 2,132,412, patented October 11, 1938, with the exception however that securing devices in the present instance are arranged to accommodate a one-piece card 64 rather than a sectional index card as shown in the aforesaid Gollwitzer patent.

, The printing device 3| is adapted to receive identifying means such as tabs 65 or 36 along the upper edge thereof in any one or more of a plurality of identifying positions, and these identifying positions are afforded and defined by a plurality of tab sockets 61 of which twelve are provided in the present instance. The tabs 65 as shown in Fig. 3 are what are known as notched tabs so that each Socket 6'! may have a tab therein disposed in either one of two positions, and thus twenty-four identifying positions are afforded on the printing device. Th plain or unnotched tab 66 is used where identifying means are to be afforded in both of the positions that are defined by a single tab socket 61.

For purposes of disclosure, the indicating positions on the printing devices 3| are numbered from leftto right when viewed from the front face of the printing device. Thus with respect to each tab socket 61, the left-hand indicating positions of the several sockets are numbered from 1 to 12 and in a left to right direction as viewed in Fig 3, while the right-hand indicating positions for the respective sockets 61 are numbered from 13 to 24 inclusive and in a left to right direction as viewed in Fig. 3. Different numbering systems may of course be employed.

With the twelve tab sockets that are thus afforded, the printing device 3| has twenty-four possible indicating positions and these indicating or identifying positions may be allocated to different items or characteristics of a classification system that may be used by the owner of the machine. As an example, the machine may be owned by a wholesale food merchant and the printing devices may, by a system of classification or tabbing, be arranged to embody selection data whereby the owner may operate the printing machine so as to print addresses on envelopes or the like for customers of any selected class or sales district.

As a further example, the tabs as shown on the printing device 3| of Fig. 3 may be assumed to represent data pertaining to the customer of a wholesale grocer. Thus the single tab in the most left-hand position, which is No. 2 position, may be assumed to indicate that the customer resides in the second sales district. Moreover, the double tab (it may be taken to indicate that customer is a purchaser of butter and that the customer is also a purchaser of margarine. The single tab 65 in position 8 of the printing device 3| may be taken to indicate that the customer is a grocer, while, the single or notched tab 65 disposed in position No. 10 may indicate that the 

